


Only a Game

by ElicBxn



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 16:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19430068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElicBxn/pseuds/ElicBxn
Summary: Originally published in a zine I can't remember the name of, but the editor posted a challenge that asked "When did The Doctor first learn something."  Reprinted in Who Knows from Tia's Pals Press under my real name, Leah McGrew.How and why The Doctor learned Cricket.





	Only a Game

"Come on, Doctor," Jo pleaded. "You need some relaxation, too, and this is going to be a great match."

"Jo," the Doctor frowned sternly at his diminutive, blonde assistant. "You know I'm not interested in sports."

"Please, Doctor," she pouted. "I know it's only a game, but I need a ride." She turned her back on the Time Lord. After a moment she glanced over her shoulder. The Doctor was obviously torn between staying with his failed experiment and going. She  
gave a dramatic sniff, breaking his resolve.

"Come along," the Doctor said, catching his cape off the coat stand. Jo happily took his other hand and followed him out to his yellow roadster.

At first the Doctor found the game dull. A group of men stood about a field. One man threw (Jo called it 'bowled') a ball at a set of poles, while another man tried to prevent the ball from hitting the poles and knocking a stick off the top. Jo called the stick a 'wicket'. Each play elicited polite applause for either a well-bowled ball or for good defense of the wicket.

"This is wonderful, Jo," the Doctor told her.

Jo looked at the Doctor. His blue eyes were bright with excitement; his silver hair tousled in the brisk breeze that whipped across the field.

"I knew you'd like it," Jo answered with satisfaction.

"Doctor!" Jo called into his laboratory Monday morning. She had spent the weekend with a friend and wanted him to know she was back. The lab was cold and empty but she could see that the TARDIS door was cracked. She went inside.

The Doctor had pulled an easy chair into the control room and sat reading a book. He was surrounded by books. The books sat in piles, scattered on the floor. One even lay open, face down on the control console.

"What are you doing, Doctor?" she demanded, hands on hips.

"Good morning, Jo," he greeted her, looking up. "Pull up a pile of books and sit down," he offered, gesturing to a stack of books with a half-eaten stalk of celery.

Jo repeated her question while she did so.

"I'm reading up on cricket," he told her.

Jo could see that bright look on the Doctor's face. She resisted the urge to tell him, 'I told you so!' "So, what have you learned?" she asked instead.

"Learned? I've learned that it is one of those games I must play," he told her. With that pronouncement, he leapt to his feet and dashed out of the TARDIS. Jo stared after him, puzzled. The Doctor stuck his silvered head back in the door. "Well?" he asked. "Aren't you coming?"

Jo ran after him as he strode down the hall. "Where are we going?" she panted.

"To see the Brigadier," he told her. 

"Why?"

He stopped in his tracks and Jo bumped into him. "Isn't he the Captain of the UNIT cricket team?" he asked, looking back and down at her. She nodded silently. "Then he's the man I want," he announced, dashing off again. 

The Doctor was turning into the Brigadier's door as Jo turned the corner.

"Brigadier," he said, as Jo got to the office. "I want to join your cricket team."

The Brigadier looked up at him in complete bewilderment. "Whatever for, Doctor?" he asked. 

The Doctor frowned. The game was fascinating, but he knew he'd better give the Brigadier an answer he'd like. "It's good exercise, and besides it'll get me out of the lab for a few hours so you don't have to worry about me burning the place down." That was a good answer. He could see it on the Brigadier's face. Still the military man hesitated. "Don't you think you're a bit old for it?" he asked.

"Old? Nonsense!" the Doctor scoffed. "Just think," he continued. "If you could get two teams of men, then you could practice with real games and pick a team of eleven from the best of the two."

"Well," the Brigadier said, clearing his throat. "I do have nineteen men now that want to play. Even two teams of ten men would be adequate. "You're in, Doctor." He extended his hand and they shook over it.

* * * * *

"Come on, Jo," the Doctor told her as he gathered up his equipment. "This is going to be a great match."

"Going to win the Amateur's Local Cricket Championship Match, are we?" she asked gaily.

In less than a year the Doctor had gone from beginner to outstanding player. The first time Lethbridge-Stewart allowed him to compete, the other team had laughed politely. Now he was feared, both for his batting and for his bowling. The Brigadier  
thought it was a miracle, but the Doctor explained that it was just application.

"And to think: Last year you thought cricket was only a game," Jo laughed.

The Doctor turned a serious face to her, but his blue eyes twinkled. "I'm a very fast learner, Jo."

* * * * *

"According to Bartholemew's Planetary Gravitier, it has a protected Class Three society," Romana nattered on. "So there CAN'T be any Earth aliens on  
Ribos."

"Maybe he's a cricket scout," the Doctor suggested. "Yeah...they could do with a good leg spinner." The Doctor backed up into a practice stance.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Romana demanded.

"What?" the Doctor paused, looking at her, then looked at his upraised hand. "Oh, nothing, nothing. Remember Rule One. Come on!" Then he dashed off, still practicing.

* * * * *

"And it's coming right for us!" the Doctor exclaimed, grabbing K9's head.

"Affirmative," k9 verified unnecessarily. 

The Doctor looked down at the robot and gasped. "Estimated time to impact?" he asked hurriedly into K9's dish.

"Master?" K9 asked.

"How long have we got?" the doctor rephrased desperately.

"Estimated time to impact..." K9 started.

"That's what I said," the Doctor told the dog, slapping the sides of the robot's head.

"...89.4 seconds."

"89.4 seconds," the Doctor repeated despairingly, placing his hand to his mouth. "No dematerialization. No defense shields, and only half power in full drive. K9, I think we're going to find out what it's like to be a cricket ball," he said sadly. "Well," he  
said as he reached out and patted the TARDIS control panel. "It's been a great, great partnership, Old Girl."

"Master," K9 started again.

"Oh, come on, K9," the Doctor interrupted. "This is no time for emotional quibbling, you two. You've been a good dog to me, K9. "He produced a First Place ribbon out of one of his many pockets and hung it on K9's ear. "The best I ever had." He patted the metal head.

"Thank you, Master," K9 responded.

"Pleasure," the Doctor whispered.

"Time to impact now 58 seconds--dead."

"I wish you wouldn't say things like that: '58 seconds--dead'...Did I say cricket BALL?!"

"Brace yourself, K9," the Doctor ordered, as he caught hold of a coat rack. "This is it!" He punched the final button.

Slowly at first, but picking up speed, the TARDIS began to spin. As the asteroid struck the rapidly twirling machine, it was flung out of the way. 

When the Doctor awoke from the impact, he was on the floor, his face covered with his scarf.

"K9?" he asked, reaching out one hand. "K9?" he asked again as he found the robot's head. "Are you all right, K9?" he demanded.

The robot gave a small electronic gasp. "Affirmative," it replied.

The Doctor pushed the scarf out of the way, then asked, "How am I, K9?"

The dog extended it's "eye" sensor to rest on the Doctor's forehead. "There appears to be no damage to your circuits," it told him. 

"Oh. Oh, good. Good." The Doctor rose to his knees and righted his robot dog. "Well," he said, making sure K9 was adjusted correctly. "Let's hope the same thing is true of the TARDIS. Good boy, K9," the Doctor said as he got to his feet and walked behind the console to look at it. Then he laughed triumphantly. "We did it!" he said, pointing at K9.

"Please clarify?" K9 requested.

"Well, I just put a lot of spin on the TARDIS and the asteroid just sliced us out of the gravity whirlpool," he replied, demonstrating the moves. "Ho. You know, K9," he went on reflectively, "sometimes I think I'm wasted just rushing about the universe saving planets from destruction. With a talent like mine, I might have been a great slow bowler.

* * * * *

The Doctor leapt out of the great spaceship. He only had six minutes to get to the TARDIS. However the drag of the line slowed him down. Back in the ship he could see Persuasion fighting with Adric.

The Doctor pulled himself back to the ship with the rope and jumped Persuasion. He reached into the android's chest and deactivated him. Quickly he retrieved his sonic screwdriver out of Persuasion's pocket. The Doctor stepped back to get a running  
start, crossed the fingers on both hands at Adric for good luck, and leapt out again.

Again he failed.

Back in the ship he saw Enlightment fire on Adric. She dropped her gun and stepped over the prone figure to release the rope and threw it out of the ship. When she went back for her gun, Adric made his move, deflecting the ray. It hit the monopticon, destroying it. Adric ripped out her control and threw it into space.

The Doctor saw that the line was loose and untied his end as well. Then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cricket ball. He took careful aim and threw it at Monarch's ship. That started his drift toward the TARDIS. The ball bounced off the  
ship and he caught it deftly. That propelled him toward the TARDIS. He turned at the last moment and caught the side of the blue box. Reaching into his pocket, he got out the key and let himself in.

As he passed through the airlock, the Doctor exclaimed to himself, "Only a game! I always knew cricket would save my life one day!"


End file.
